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So, we’ve all now been “locked down” in most of the US for just over three months. And while some people and some states (like Texas) decided to “re-open” months ago, that foolishness is now paying off in the form of the highest daily numbers of new COVID infections in the US — ever.
All that is to say that whether, like us, you’ve been socially isolating this whole time or you’re just now realizing that all that “re-opening” was a bad call and are now retreating back inside, you’re probably going to need something to entertain you.
Luckily for you all, I reached peak cabin fever a few weeks ago and researched all new and exciting ways to stem COVID-related boredom, because those dumb lists about “have a movie night” or “cook a meal together” from March are super worn out by now. Enjoy!
Completely isolated activities:
The stuff below you can do at your own house, and only require internet access and/or your handy-dandy delivery person to help bring supplies.
- Sign up for an AirBnb Experience
We’ve done a few of these now and they are SO FUN. Not only do you have an expert guide you through whatever activity you’re doing, but you also get to meet and interact with other participants from around the world. In particular, the Sangria & Secrets with Drag Queens from Lisbon was a blast, and would make a great remotely attended birthday or bachelorette celebration. We’re signed up for Coffee Masterclass with a Mexican National Coffee Judge and Meet the Dogs of Chernobyl from the Ukraine in the coming weeks.
- Order a mystery or escape room box
If you’re either a fan of escape rooms and/or true crime podcasts, then you’ll probably love Mystery boxes. Our first foray into this genre was the Deadbolt Mystery Society. We’ve since done a box through Escape the Crate too. Both are fun, but the latter was more geared towards families (and was much easier), while the former was a bit grisly – we solved 5 murders by a serial killer. Each box provided about 2-3 hours of entertainment, though you may need more or less time depending on your deductive skills.
- Forget regular puzzles – try out a 3D puzzle
Think you’re all puzzled out? You might just be doing the wrong puzzles. Wrebbit 3D puzzles, available from Amazon, allow you to build scale replicas of your favorite places from real life and fiction. We’ve now built the Hogwarts Great Hall and Hogwarts Astronomy Tower, and are considering Winterfell from Game of Thrones as our next purchase.
- Massive. Water. Balloon. Fight.
I mean, this ones’s pretty self explanatory, right? But these cool balloons mean you don’t have to spend hours individually filling up and tying balloons all day first – you just attach it to your hose, and it does all the work.
- Subscribe to a cocktail box
Let’s face it: we’re all drinking too much in quarantine. So you might as well spice it up a little. We joined a subscription service through SaloonBox, which sends you all the ingredients needed for 2 different cocktails a month. (Each recipe yields 2 cocktails a piece, so 4 total per box.) Some have been thoroughly enjoyable, some I would never make again. But it does make for a fun little afternoon!
- Back something on KickStarter or Kiva
Give everyone in your house a budget and let them pick something (in the case of Kickstarter) or someone (in the case of Kiva) that they want to “back”. Getting the regular updates on how your money is being used is always a lovely surprise to brighten your day.
- Write actual physical letters
People love getting mail. Full stop. So consider spreading some joy. If you don’t feel like writing to people you actually know, you can sign up to write postcards to voters (if you’re a Democrat, at least) or you can volunteer to send encouraging notes to individuals in state-run hospitals and/or elderly individuals in nursing homes, where in-person visits and social activities have largely been cancelled due to COVID-19.
- Do a paint-and-drink at home class
If you’ve ever been to one of those painting parties at vendors like Pinot’s Palette or Painting With a Twist, this is the same thing, except they send you the supplies to your house and the instruction is done via a pre-recorded video. You still are welcome to drink as much as you want while painting, though. 🙂
- Try a date night kit
We haven’t actually tried this one yet, but we did sign up for Happily, a monthly subscription box for date night ideas. (Edited to Add: Nevermind, definitely don’t do this. It was a total waste of money for a 15 minute activity.) Apparently it comes with all the supplies you need for a fun date night at home. Some examples pictured on their website include a date making and decorating donuts together, a candle-making and indoor-smores kit, etc. There are also a lot of other date night kit makers on Cratejoy.
- Create your own bracket and decide the best of of something
We ordered (for curbside pickup only, of course) all 8 specialty pizzas that a local pizza shop had on their menu, and determined our favorite (while getting to eat pizza for the next several days). A friend of ours had her kids help her with a Ben & Jerry’s flavor bracket. You can pick basically any item you want to “bracket”, just make sure you start with a number that’s a power of 2 (e.g. 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc.) so that you end up with a clean bracket.
- Build, and then shoot off, model rockets
Putting together a model rocket is basically like doing a jigsaw puzzle that comes with instructions. You then get to paint your model rocket to express your artistic side. And finally, you get to take it out to a big open field somewhere, light it up, and shoot it into space. How is that not a perfect quarantine activity? Just make sure you check with your local government to see if you need a permit first – we did, but it was just a simple online form and didn’t cost us anything.
- Have a regional delicacy overnighted to you
Through Goldbelly, you can get dishes and meal kits from some of the country’s most famous restaurants sent directly to you. So whether you’re craving bagels from Russ & Daughters in New York or brisket from Snow’s in Texas or deep dish from Lou Malnati’s in Chicago— you can get it. A friend had a pie sent to us from Royer’s in Round Top through Goldbelly and it was SO. GOOD.
- Join a virtual choir or orchestra
- Host a theme dinner, either virtually or with just your family
For the hubby’s birthday this year, we invited friends to a Zoom dinner party and encouraged all attendees to all order a meal from their local Red Lobster (as they have locations all over). We sent attendees lobster-themed goodies (bibs, crackers, balloons) in the mail the week before, and supplied an ocean/sea-themed Spotify playlist and Zoom backgrounds for everyone. It really made it feel like we were in the same place! But we’ve also hosted some theme nights just for ourselves: one night we had a luau featuring mai tais, spam fried rice, YouTube hula lessons, and Blue Hawaii. Just pick a theme and really commit to being extra about it.
- Create your own tasting event
Grocery stores remain open, and through Instacart and/or curbside delivery, you can still get whatever tickles your fancy. So what will you taste? Cheese? Coffee? Chocolate? Wine? Just order 3-5 types of a certain thing, then go to the producer’s website to get some background info on each varietal you chose. Instant DIY tasting. If you want more guidance, there are cheese-of-the-month type clubs out there, as well as lots of options for virtual wine tastings.
- Track your ancestry
This isn’t really specific to quarantine in any way, but speaking as someone who has fallen down the genealogy rabbit hole in the past, I can tell you that this activity can easily eat up hours and days of your time. Start with a site like ancestry.com or myheritage.com, particularly if you’re a beginner. It also will likely give you an excuse to call your parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles while hunting for info.
- Do a GPS-triggered driving audio tour
So we’ve first encountered this type of tour when we visited Yellowstone National Park, and the GyPSy Guide was a delightful addition to the car trips we took between attractions in the park. And while GyPSy may be the most famous of this type of app, there’s actually a surprising number of them covering a ton of destinations. Here’s a starter list.
- Run a Virtual 5k
With gyms closed, you might be finding it hard to come up with motivation to work out. We’ve been challenging each other to virtual 5ks. There are several put on by well known race groups like Rock ‘n’ Roll Running and RunDisney, but also longer-distance cumulative runs you can sign up for. The virtual 5ks all usually come with a medal for finishers, printable race bibs and “course signage” that you can hang yourself, and often additional swag available for purchase.
- Buy a powerwasher
Ok, I know this one sounds weird. But I’ve had like 3 different friends buy (or borrow) one of these bad boys during quarantine to pressure wash their concrete walkways or sidewalks or decks. And it’s SO satisfying, watching the sections that have been cleaned change color before your eyes. That’s a day well spent.
- Go to a touchless car-wash
Let me stress from the beginning that this in no way is about getting your car clean. Put on your best rave kid gear, get in the car, put on some club tunes and spring for the best (read: longest) “package” the automatic car wash offers. Between all the sprays and soaps and waxes, you’ll get a good 15 minutes of dancing-in-your-car awesomeness. Pro tip: kids are obsessed with these things too.
- Make phone calls for a political campaign
Elections are still coming up in November, despite the Coronavirus, and candidates at every level (city, county, state, and national!) need your help reaching constituents now more than ever, as their “usual” campaign activities have had to abruptly go virtual. Luckily, phone banking can be done from anywhere. Here’s info on how to phone bank for Joe Biden, but all candidates could likely use some help in this area.
- Put these signs in your yard then watch all the fun
- Have a rubber duck race
Order enough rubber ducks for each member of your family. Go to a local creek or river (ideally one that is not massively popular, but is also on public lands). Let the ducks loose, run downstream, and see whose ducky is a true champion. Repeat.
- Brew your own beer (or wine, or mead, etc.)
The most frustrating part about brewing your own beer or wine is that you have to wait a month or so for the stuff to ferment before you ever get to try it, which in normal times, is sort of annoying. But you’re not going anywhere for at least a month, so now’s a great time to start brewing!
Mostly isolated activities:
The list above is super-safe. Because they don’t require interacting with anyone else, they are the gold standard. But there are also a lot of “mostly isolated” events that I would still consider “pretty safe”. The following list may require you to interact with a single other person for under 15 minutes; e.g. to fill out rental paperwork or have an admission ticket checked, etc. For these, just remember to wear your masks and practice 6-feet of social distancing while around that other person, and consider taking cleaning wipes down for any items that you may touch along the way.
- Go to a drive-in concert or event
There’s tons of these starting to pop up across the country, from Live Nation’s Drive-In series with Brad Paisley, to the Parking Lot Social tour, to events hosted by local live music venues in their own parking lots. If you’ve been missing live performances, it may be worth checking out, and your only interaction need be with the parking attendant.
- Play a socially isolated sport like golf, tennis, geocaching, or disc golf
If it’s not too hot yet where you live, then by all means, head outdoors and get active. Golf (especially if you already have your own clubs, and can have each person rent their own golf cart), tennis (if you have your own rackets and balls), and disc golf (if you have your own frisbees) can all be played without ever needing to be within six feet of your opponents. These are great ways to catch up with friends you haven’t seen in a while; the only person you’ll likely have to interact with is the golf shop attendant to check in for your tee time.
- Rent a boat, jet ski, canoe, or kayak.
Grab a can of Lysol wipes and head to your nearest body of water, and you’ll likely find a place you can rent some sort of water craft available by the hour. Usually, you only need a quick interaction to sign up some liablity paperwork and run your credit card, and you’ll be good to go with minimal human interaction. Don’t forget to wipe down touchpoints on your rented “craft”.
- Go fishing
Fishing isn’t for everyone, but if you have a little patience and the right bait, even true novices can usually catch something. You’ll need some basic fishing gear, which can be acquired on the cheap from Amazon. And once you’re on the lake/creek/stocked resevoir, you can usually stay socially distanced from others quite easily. The lone interaction will come from buying some bait at your local bait shop — however, you can always try digging for your own worms, if you prefer.
- Go to an outdoor shooting range
Shooting clays is super fun, and yelling “pull” makes you feel like you’re on the grounds of Downtown Abbey. Especially if you have your own shotgun, search for an area gun range with outdoor clay shooting abilities. The outdoor “lanes” are already distanced more than six feet apart, so your only interaction is likely to be paying for your visit (and your clays).
- “Rent” someone else’s pool for the day
Depressed by your inflatable kiddy pool? You can spend the day at someone else’s in-ground pool using Swimply, which is like AirBnb for pools. Find a local pool you like, reserve it for a few hours, and make sure to pack your own towels and floaties. Other than a potential interaction with the host as they let you in, you won’t need to interact with anyone to have your day in the water.
- Go RV-ing
So, undoubtedly this is the most expensive item in our list, but we just had some friends get back from a 3-week cross country adventure in a borrowed RV and it looked downright magical. You can rent one through places like CruiseAmerica, but a friend with an RV is likely key here. Remember to pack Lysol wipes to wipe down the interiors upon your initial entry, and you’re good to go and free to explore.
- Buy fireworks. Go out to the country. Explode said fireworks.
This one’s pretty self-explanatory I think. Fireworks are awesome. Choose one of those roadside stands outside city limits and you can get your heart’s fill of explosives. Enjoy!
- Rent an arcade console game in your house
As arcades have been closed in most states, a lot of arcade AND bar-cade type places have begun offering weekly or monthly game rentals. If you’ve always dreamt of finally beating Paperboy, like me, or The Addams Family pinball is your absolute favorite way to waste a quarter, you might get to experience owning your very own console game on the cheap for a bit. (They probably have more recent games too, but I’m old, ok?) We’ve been seeing rates in Dallas of around $100 a week, including delivery and pickup, and your only in-person interaction would be with the delivery crew.
- Go pick your own fruits or vegetables
Farmers are hurting on multiple fronts right now, from now being able to sell to restaurants to not being able to find workers to process their crops. Call around to the local farms in your area and see if they offer a pick-your-own experience, and you can have a nice socially distanced outing picking some yummy veggies. (It’s tomato season, after all!) Other than paying the farmer, you’ll likely encounter no other souls.
- Go VOTE.
It’s your right and your responsibility. If you’re not registered to vote, you can learn how to do so here. Wear a mask, stay socially distanced, but make sure you vote. Primary run offs are this week in many states! It’s the one out-of-your-house thing you are guaranteed not to get any slack for!
